Stateside (2004)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Reverge Anselmo

Writer:

Reverge Anselmo (written by)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Boy In A Flack Jacket Meets Girl In A Straight Jacket.

Plot:

The film follows a rebellious teenager on leave from the Marines who falls in love with a female musician. The relationship is threatened when she develops a mental illness...

Plot Keywords:

Marine | Mental Illness | Priest | Schizophrenia | Military

Awards:

1 win

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 7	2:45 PM	SHOW
Wed. July 8	1:50 AM	SHOW

Cast

Rachael Leigh Cook	...	Dori Lawrence
Jonathan Tucker	...	Mark Deloach
Agnes Bruckner	...	Sue "of the Dubervilles" Dubois
Val Kilmer	...	Staff Sergeant Skeer
Joe Mantegna	...	Gil Deloach
Carrie Fisher	...	Mrs. Dubois
Diane Venora	...	Mrs. Hengen
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Father Concoff
Michael Godere	...	Gregory Tripodi (as Michael Goduti)
Daniel Franzese	...	Danny Tripodi
Zena Grey	...	Gina Deloach
André Vippolis	...	Dori's Agent, Ricky (as Andre Vippolis)
Paul Le Mat	...	Dori's Internist
Bridget Barkan	...	Francine
Billy Lush	...	Nando

Also Known As:

Sinners (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality/nudity and underage drinking. (2004 re-rating)

Runtime:

USA:97 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | USA:R | USA:R (2004 re-rating) | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Seven Hills Pictures

Trivia:

Reverge Anselmo, himself a former Marine, made members of the cast pass boot camp in order to participate in the production.

Quotes:

Dori Lawrence: I'm emotionally greedy and the prognosis is not good.

Movie Connections:

References Platoon (1986)

Soundtrack:

Now What I Wanted

Based On a True Story

I think all movies with plot developments that stretch a little bit should use the 'based on a true story' tag. With that you can get away with anything. What really happened in your true story? What did you shoehorn in there to make this point or that, or to throw viewers off the scent of trying to figure out who your actress girlfriend was?

Val Kilmer was the most pleasant surprise of the movie.

What was with the sequence where the rejected hero went drinking and hit on women with delightful facial pores and that had a predilection for taking shots of blue liquid and ended with a minor car accident with no consequences.

Stateside had plenty of blind alleys like that. You don't have to smack me over the head to demonstrate plot points but several times there were inserted scenes of characters doing everyday things that neither advanced the plot, nor developed the characters, nor conveyed a relevant tone. It recalled She's under the Influence except done sloppily or ineffectively.

The dialog was different. It had a spare poeticism that hit home at some points like when the father and the hero leave the courtroom. The dialog was stylized

atmposherics when coming out of the mouth of the Marine drill Seargeant. The dialog tried to convey too much complexity like when the worker who runs the group home explains why the hero can't see Dorie anymore. At all times, however, I could not escape hearing the voice of the screenwriter coming out of the mouths of each of the characters.

There were other examples of self indulgence. Like at the school dance where the hero was herded into a group photo with a bevy of negligible characters. He used a snapshot freeze frame device which served little emotional purpose except to perhaps recreate one of the filmmaker's favorite photos of himself.

What saved the movie for me were the scenes between the hero and Dorie. It felt genuine. When you create a new reality with someone, your language bends around that reality and the dialogue and performances conveyed that nicely.

I'm all for subtlety and experimentation and extending or having fun with clichés. This movie had all of those, but it seems that the filmmaker could stand to polish his storytelling craft a shade or two better.

Regarding identifying the mystery girl. Some possible hints:

The name Exene was tossed around in the apartment with the band before the implied gang bang. Like maybe the band the mystery girl was in had some sort of connection to LA Punk band X with Exene Cervenka?

The scene from the 'movie' Dorie was in seemed Bond like.

Evil Dead came up in a conversation, though it seemed like she wasn't in that movie. Then later he went to see Evil Dead. Maybe the mystery girl was in evil dead. Most people in that movie other than the chin guy didn't make too many movies after evil dead.